it was an intense difficulty for us because none in our government knew about the private channel. literally no one except nixon and me and one or two people who were technicians. >> but let me ask you about the risks here because the chinese are a complete black box to you. all you know is that they're pretty crazy, at least seemingly so from the cultural revolutions. >> absolutely. >> so this whole thing if exposed could have been a disaster. >> and, therefore, it was to the enormous credit of nixon that he would take those risks. >> did he worry about the risks when you would talk about them? >> you know, nixon on issues of national interest was enormously courageous, and what's even more remarkable is that nixon was inherently a pessimist and even when taking these risks had a certain sense of doom, that they might not really work, but he felt this was the one move that had to be made. unfreeze the situation. >> so he decides that you will go to china? >> yes. >> when we come back the secrets and the stealth deploiplomacy t made it all happen. issues with three strains of good